Ise kehte ain bhains ke aage been bajana. DRDO is a sloppy and thoroughly unprofessional organization which has more often than not wasted resources on major projects. Except Prithvi, nothing of great importance has come out from DRDO. I am not very optimistic about DRDO's prospects.
For success in hi-tec projects, BRAIN is the key resource. We all know what happens to the best brains of India, our Govt. abhorres merit & as a result the meritorious always go abroad to satisfy their creative side or..just join the private sector where they expect more gains for more pains.
Most of the current army of Govt. scientists has been selected on criteria other than merit. In the best possible case, they were mediocres who were willing to lead a babu's life (do nothing).
Dr. Kalam is a rare example and an idol for me. I would just request him to stop counting on lame horses & bring the brightest talents of the country to DRDO. Only then, will the country become self reliant in defence.
INDIA MUST NEVER GIVE UP MEANS TO IMPROVE ITS NUKE WEAPONS ..
Govt. picks design for nuclear warhead By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
The Bush administration took a major step Friday toward building a new generation of nuclear warheads, selecting a design that is being touted as safer, more secure and more easily maintained than today's arsenal.
A team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will proceed with the weapons design with an anticipation that the first warheads may be ready by 2012 as a replacement for Trident missiles on submarines.
The new weapons program, which has received cautious support from Congress, was immediately criticized by some nuclear nonproliferation groups as evidence the government wants to expand nuclear weapons production %u2014 not move toward eliminating the stockpile.
Critics also maintain that it sends the wrong signal around the world by pushing a new warhead %u2014 although characterized as a replacement for existing ones_ at a time the United States is trying to curtail nuclear weapons development in North Korea and Iran.
Some lawmakers agreed.
"The minute you begin to put more sophisticated warheads on the existing fleet, you are essentially creating a new nuclear weapon. And it's just a matter of time before other nation's do the same," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. "This could serve to encourage the very proliferation we are trying to prevent."
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., chair of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, expressed cautious support, but promised "a long evaluation process" in Congress to assure the warhead will do what is promised without future underground testing.
Nuclear underground tests have not been done since a ban in 1992.
"This is not about starting a new nuclear arms race," countered Thomas P. D'Agostino, acting head of the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear weapons programs.
Steve Henry, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear matters, said the new design is hoped to lead to fewer warheads being needed. He said it has not changed administration determination to reduce the number of deployed warheads to fewer than 2,000 %u2014 the lowest number since the 1950s.
There are believed to be about 6,000 warheads deployed and another 4,000 in reserve.
D'Agostino, briefing reporter on the design decision, said the intent is to develop a safer, more secure warhead to assure increased reliability without the need for underground nuclear tests.
He cautioned that the program remains in the early stages and that in coming months the Livermore team will expand on its design work to give a better estimate on overall costs, the scope of the program and a schedule toward full-scale engineering and production.
The administration is asking for $119 million for the next fiscal year for design work. The officials said they could not say how much the program eventually will cost.
The so-called "reliable replacement warhead" has been the focus of a yearlong, intense design competition between Livermore in California and nuclear scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico %u2014 the government's two premier nuclear weapons labs.
Both of the labs developed proposals and at one point there was discussion to combine the designs into a single program. But that was rejected and D'Agostino made clear Friday the program would be Livermore's to develop.
The Livermore design was based on an existing warhead that reportedly had been exploded in an underground test in the 1980s, although never actually put into the stockpile. The Los Alamos design was based on a totally fresh approach but without a history of actual testing.
It was this "very robust test pedigree" %u2014 as D'Agostino put it %u2014 that gave Livermore the upper hand.
"It ... gave us the confidence ... to certify and go forward without underground testing," he said, adding that without that assurance "we were not going to go forward."
Congress authorized design work on the new warhead in 2005, but with a stipulation that its primary goal be to assure the reliability of the nuclear arsenal without resumption of bomb testing, and that it will help in the consolidation of the Energy Department's nuclear weapons complex.
Some lawmakers have also questioned whether the new warhead is needed, especially in light of a recent finding that the plutonium in the current warheads will last nearly 100 years, twice as long as previously thought.
Some nuclear weapons critics warned the warhead could lead to an increased likelihood of future testing, calling it a ploy to rebuild %u2014 not dismantle %u2014 the nuclear weapons infrastructure.
"This is a first installment on a plan to develop and produce warheads on an ongoing cyclical basis ... similar to what we had during the Cold War," said Lisbeth Gronlund, a scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear nonproliferation advocacy group.
John Isaacs, executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said there's no need for a new warhead when "the U.S. nuclear stockpile, based on 50 years of research and over 1,000 underground nuclear tests, has been confirmed safe and reliable for at least another half-century."
"The bottom line is we're returning to what we used to do in the Cold War years. That's the message to the world," said Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project of the Federation of American Scientists.
___
Associated Press writer Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco contributed to this story.
RE:Never quantify your defence on the goodwill with others, but the power to destory you hold
by karan on Mar 03, 2007 09:12 AM Permalink
HAIL Respected Sir. ABDUL KALAM !! HE IS MESSIAH BRAVO FOR HIM FOR AGES TO COME !
i dont understand why indian govt is spending so huge an amount on defencce. i came over to canada because i dont get a decent job in india. i would have loved to lived in india. all those wasted finances would have helped us.
RE:defence
by hello on Mar 03, 2007 02:50 AM Permalink
We have problem near our fencEs. We need to defenSe near the fencEs. We have to protect our country from mallious eyes, slanted eyes, cunning eyes, envy eyes!!! Other country's people are telling that Indian people not staying in their countries, Indians are returning to their home land creating shortage of skilled people in their countries!!!
With Rs 96000 crores defense budget I'd suggest India immediately and secretly develop "minimal" weaponry that has potential to destroy the earth, because
1. It is very inexpensive to develop such technologies. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AukJUnQK3lrdLTQSt2MOnr3sy6IX?qid=20070221103527AAOxlqJ
2 . India can use it to negotiate with superpowers. Sounds strange but current superpowers bully during negotiations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying#Political_bullying
Dr. Kalam other than being a brilliant man and scientist has the makings of an excellent CEO. Almost any and every project he has been involved with has come to fruictition and all the work that he branched off and distributed to other agencies flopped. This has happened time and time again, which only leads me to believe that Dr. Kalam has something in him that nobody else does. His knowledge of the DRDO is also unparalleled. The truth of the matter is that he is the founding father of a lot of these organizations; he never boasts about it, but he does know these entities inside out. I also admire his progressive views where he explicitly says that the DRDO needs to be restructured every 5 years. The reason Indian public sector is so pathetic compared to developed nations is because nothing ever gets restructured. Just look at IAF for instance. They took on massive tech transfers in the late 60s... they just never got around to keeping up with things. We are still losing pilots in the Mig21 Bisons (I mean flying coffins) from that era. I could go on and on with examples.
It is time we privatized this entire industry. There is obviously a lot of talent in India which we are losing to the west and our own private sector. And seriously, why would we expect any bright young engineer to get stuck working for an inefficient governmental agency like DRDO or HAL when they could have a better career in the private sector? It is thus logical to privatize this industry to initiate healthy competition and cooperation. Governmental agencies like the DRDO should only be entrusted with forecasting the needs of the defense forces and organizing budgets and Dr. Kalam should be incharge of this entire deregulation process.
RE:Put Dr. Kalam In charge
by Ramakrishna Panicker on Mar 02, 2007 10:44 AM Permalink
OH! DR. KALAM, THE GARDENER OF INDIA. Oh! Fruition of our Bagia, really thyself is a Bagvaan You may rebirth again and again and treat this garden of ours. Here you see, nobody other than you to save us. You come here as our mom, You come here as our Pappa, You come and come as our Teacher And, you come again and again as our Nurse, You rebirth in every human of the Glob And, Lord and God as every thing as and when required by us We have no brain or soul, We have no hands as sung Sarojini Naidu to save this country We have no eyes to see the every day happenings around us. We have only flying coffins (Mig21 Bisons) as my brother says. And, the Indian children%u2019s childhood is triple or more than other countries young ones. (As once Professor M.N. Vijayan wrote in his write up in news paper). We are facing every where utter failures. Our players, painfully returning with the crown of defeat Therefore, you dynast come and save us all fulfilling all our requirements.
RE:Put Dr. Kalam In charge
by karan on Mar 03, 2007 09:15 AM Permalink
HAIL Respected Sir. ABDUL KALAM !! HE IS MESSIAH BRAVO FOR HIM FOR AGES TO COME !
The President has rightly indicated that the nature of warfare has changed.War is now not about destroying buildings, spoiling the land or killing soldiers and civilians but also valuable resources of skills, information, knowledge, and culture. The DRDO has a task cut out for itself. It must seek to identify those areas of low intensity conflict for which are defense arms are inadequate. I can only cite one instance: Terrorist profiling: It has become important to develop kits that will enable the forces to profile the potential terrorists and wean them away from this path. The management of captured terrorists is also an area that needs attention. Another area is to develop means to unveil the terrorist networks infiltrating the open economy. Materials for the safety of our soldiers fighting insurgents, rapid identification of missing personnel in battle areas. Powerful computing equipment that will do a large amount of information mining, etc. I believe these are frontier areas and tend to be very country specific. A huge amount of foreign exchange saving will itself be a justification to remain competitive as far as DRDO is concerned. It is said that China has embarked on building strong backward linkages so that new development can be supported on the back of the commercial industry. The DRDO with the laboratories of the CSIR could catalyse these backward linkages ultimately supporting the defence effort.
At actual, our forefathers fought for this Nation, thought how we can flourish blooms; where as we say where we are now. One who has no idea about our land is how capable to measure a mind? Really we are growing as much as possible, but not onwards to the correct destination. How we are dreaming a heaven like India than giving our sweat to this mud. Painfully I remember the lines of Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore to a Pujaari for what purpose hei Poojaari you are preaching your God closing all doors and windows are closed. Your God is not before you, Almighty is with those who are preaching their sweat to soil and the path makers who are breaking the rocks. I pray to Almighty to give strength to our beloved President to upkeep thy words and extent our hands of all my brothers and sisters for Dr. APJA Kalams dream fulfillment.
At actual, our forefathers fought for this Nation, thought how we can flourish blooms; where as we say where we are now. One who has no idea about our land is how capable to measure a mind? Really we are growing as much as possible, but not onwards to the correct destination. How we are dreaming a heaven like India than giving our sweat to this mud. Painfully I remember the lines of Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore to a Pujaari for what purpose hei Poojaari you are preaching your God closing all doors and windows are closed. Your God is not before you, Almighty is with those who are preaching their sweat to soil and the path makers who are breaking the rocks. I pray to Almighty to give strength to our beloved President to upkeep thy words and extent our hands of all my brothers and sisters for Dr. APJA Kalams dream fulfillment.
Hon'ble President...... The slogan vision 2020 I can predict how it will be in 2020 for DRDO.... Our young brains are either draining to west..... or going in to drains.... All enigeers are converting in to software labourors (What ever field a engineer graduates from ...it can be mechanical or electrical or electronics or even civil...... he is going software) Scientists are migrating to west.... ... I feel if the same situation continues India have to outsource DRDO to MNCs based in west.....
RE:DRDO
by hello on Mar 01, 2007 07:48 PM Permalink
If we have more people in above said fields, there is nothing wrong in pursuing software fields. Of course, for defense missiles too, we need software in case of cruise missiles & advanced radar etc, which will help defense too.
It has has been highlighted many of the postings,that there is lot of defference in pay and perks between Pvt sector and public.
It is always like "Other side of the fence is always green". The social security, medical treatment allownces, Education to the children, subsidised accomadation. Leave, number of working hours are better in public sectors. Responsibility is collective hence no one is punished for low productivity and accountability is very low except in armed services. Pvt sectors' high paying jobs are exclusive to a few thousands out of large employees. The individual brilliance is calculated from the amount one generates in his activity. When one compares the income generation to payment received, Pvt sector are paying less to the employees in comarision to public sectors. In Pvt sectors Engineer has to generate 23- 28 lakks of profit to the ccompany to get 4-5 lakhs of annual payment. Major amount goes to the promotor and to the share holders less the overhead charges. If one has not been able to generate income for a period of four months contineously, then there is posibility of indirect pressure for such employees to levae the company!. It is open invitation to all in public sector If one has got skill which can make him to survive in pvt establishment, Come and join these pvt enterprices. Never regret latter!!.Where ever one be, he has to work at the best of his ability to give something back to the organization.
